Vbbbswt i



(No Model.)

` M. L", RHEEN..

, TooTH BRUSH.

No. 306,?76. Patented Oct. 2l, 1884.

a. 5a u In.

UNITED" STATES.

ylUirniifr FFCEf? l n einem, on New 'ironie Y.

room-rs nues.

,EFICAEIOM forminggparito'llietters Patent- Io; 306,776, dated October23;, 11384.

` AinplinatilmifilmlanuahyEl,1884. (Nomio'ehl In tlf wZtmlz, it nung/yconocem- Be it kneim that LhllnrninMRIrnrm e citizen of theUnitodStetes;,a .ncll w resident of the city of New York, in; the. cou-niiyoNewYork and State ofN'cw Yonlrlllaufc invented cer-A tain new audiusefurl lm pnonemeuts, in Booth Brushes, 'oil which` the iblloniing is:a specificantion. v

My ihirenti on consists` in; thecoustnuotion of the 'brush hereinafterdescribed.; aind claimed. lvigure 1 shows a sifl'ef vienioil'xuy'impnoveit brush. Fig. 2r shows :et pniiew thereof,` thelnrisizleslheing jueseniicolf upwardly..

lnkclcttcrs indicutoliikepitrtsin both igf skilled in the dental art,lorA reasons which 1re-ell not hcre be crcpi'uincigthat the. teethshouhl he cleansecll by passingjthebristlcs of' ij., c., from the gumstowardl their cutting` or grindih gsurlecesenChnottransyersely` acrossthetccth 51 and' alsoith at onefol'fthcireasonsnvhy tliebnelr teth, andcspecinllythe; wisdom tceiluliswe to be early extractor-li is becahse`they are iusuilieicntly cleansed; and therefore decay@ enel also, thatn large; proportion ofthe eiwit-ies which occur inf the incisoreoriginate in the inside of theseteeth forfthe saine reason. .v

L is the handle of my iinproveda` brush, mnilc v of any suitablematerial.. Instead; however, ot' being straight or curved beokwnrdly, as

its lengt-h, tapersqute d cei'dcdlyf from about 40 sucli brushes have'heretofore been; med'e,- I

curvethe handle; forwardly,V as shown in the drawings, thebristlesbeingonJ thenside 'of the curve. Thebaclc'oithc brushrshown at BQ) instead;of heingoithe same sizethroughout into theilgmclr, o1 are outaltcrbcinggso set, in

the nimmer shown in Figi, 1., At'they are long. They thengrndualiydecrcuse in length lt is non'` generally: umllerstooih bythose` the face of the bristlesv is intended to follow the curve of theline of teeth on the' -sidesot the jaws.

lit'willbe oliscrued that by curving the haul- `ille', asshown, thebrushyqillbe more easily and naturally/ held in` proper relation to theteeth thun Ait it were straightor curvedinthe yopposite direetio,beea1isc the brush is usually held inthe hand which is oppositethe row of teeth beingbrushe'd.' Thus the curvature of the handle and:the. curved outline given to Vthe cinlsof Lhefbristles coact to `enablethe user, by simply rotating his Wrist, to cause the bristles to passuniformly over alllf'the `teeth in juxtapositionfto the. brush from' thegums downwardly; also, that,f the bristles being cut in the curvedoutline shown, they rub equallyagainst all theteeth inijuxteposition tothem, and, owing to the front end` of the back of the brush beingreduced in width, and preferably in thickness also, it can be more yeasily carried up under the check, which, opposite the` back' teeth,squite thick and heavy, tothe junction between the gums. and the teeth,tha-n if the back -of the brush were the sume width-and thicknessthroughout. And it will also be especially noticed that the stiff tui'tof` bristles C atthe extreme eml of the brush can he made toipass aroundb ehinil the lastiooth, which is normally a. wisdom tooth, and' thusthoroughly brush all Sides of ii.

lVhcn used io brush the inner surfaces 01' the teeth, especially thcncisol's, the curva-4 ture of the handle enables the user more naturallyand easily lo bring the i;ui't C against such surlaiws.

Tooth hr :shes as usually made have no ineansliy which they can besuspended1 and consmpiriitly are usually placed in a mug 'on ure in thebrush docs. not readily evaporate latingaround the brush dries itrapidly. 4-l am aware that a hole has been made through the handle ofculinary utensils, whereby they may be suspended; but never to myknowledge has any provision been heretofore made for suspendiu g atooth-brush and whereas the hole'in the handle of said culinary utensilshas been provided simply and solely as a means whereby the same maybe'kept in the place provided for it, without any special benefitsresulting'to such utensil by reason of Aits occupying a suspendedposition, it is not so with a tooth-brusl1,because, as heretoforestated, special-advantages are incident to the Suspension of atoothbrush; and not only is this true, but, furthermore, specialadvantages result from ha'viug the means of suspension arigid supportand a hole in the handle of the brush, passing through it from front torear,

because if the meansof suspension were a vstring o r a ring passingthroughsuch ahole,

then the brush could twist on the string or ring and the wet bristlescome in contact with `the wall orother thing againstwhieh the brush wassuspended, thus injuring the bristles,and being also unpleasant to theuser of the brush; but, ou the contrary, the hole being made in thehandle, as shown, and the brush hung with the bristles pointingoutwardly, they cannot come in Contact with anything, and

because ofthe curvature of the handle the brush will assume thepositionshown in Fig. l, 4o

X representing the vertical surface against which the brush is hung, andXthe peg.

'I am also aware that prior to my invention tooth-brushes have Vbeenmade in which the bristles have beentrimmed or out on the aro of acircle, so Athat the central bristles'were [shorter than those at theends, and also that that portion .of the handle which constituted .theback of t-hebrush, into which the bristles were inserted, has been givena curved form, so thatthe outer ends of the bristles, although ,thebristles were all of thesame length, have had 'a curved outline.'.Ilherefore do not claim these features, broadly.

' Having .Il pAS'ja-:lnew"article of manufacture, the

thus described my `invention YI Y herein-described improved tooth-brush,ha\* ing a handle curved one way throughout substantially its entirelength, and tapered edgewise toward the end of -the brush at the partwhich forms 'the back of the brush, provided with bristles placed on theinside of the curve` a projecting tuft'of bristles on the ext-reine endof the brush, and a hole in the end' of the han- (lle, substantially asand for vthe purposes set forth.

2. A tooth-brush comprising a handle curved one way vthroughoutsubstantially its entire length, and provided with bristles on theinside of the curve, that portion of the back which contains thebristles being tapered edgewise toward the end of the brush, and a tuftof bristles at the extremity ol' the brush projecting beyond the surfaceof the adjoining bristles, substantially as and for the purposes Setforth.

3. A tooth-brush provided with two or more converging lines ofbristles,which extend substantiall y the ent-ire length of the brush,and terminate at the extremity of the brush in a tuff. of bristles,which projects at right angles l to the handle of the brush and beyondthe l surface ofthe adjoining bristles, substantially as and forthe-purposes set forth.

4. A tooth-brush in which the back of thebrush tapers from the end ofthe brush nearest the handle toward the extremity of the brush, and alsois reduced in thickness toward the extremity, substautiall y as and forthe purposes set forth.

Atooth-brush haring ahaudle formed in substantially the are of a circle,the bristles being 'placed on the inside of the are `andat one end ofthe handle, and a hole through the handle from the front to the backside thereof 9 at the end opposite the bristles, so that when the brushissuspended by-Incansmf a peg passing through the hole, with' thebristles presented outwardly, the seniicircular o'r arc shape of thehandle will cause that part of the brush which contains the bristles tobe held away from the wall or other object against which the brush ishung, substantially as and -for the purposes set forth.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,this 31st dayy of December, A. l)'.. 1883.

v MEYERL. RHEIN. lVitnessea;

BNN Loan/Y,

. WALTER H. CRITTENDEN.

